Lorraine gets used to Boston
This episode is told from Lorraine Harper's point of view, as she discusses on how she misses California, and also how she has adjusted to Boston. Amazing how things turn out when you least expect them. For the life of me, I was never a New England girl. I had never even set foot in New England until I moved here. Sometimes I even wonder WHY I am here. But I have to admit, even though I miss living in California, and the wide open spaces of where I grew up (living in a national park can do that to you), Boston has been a fantastic place to live. With all the major busy and hustle and bustle of a major city, the city has a great amount of history. One of the high points was when Aunt Victoria Jensen took me to the Isabella Stewart Gardiner museum. I was impressed, and it was lovely. Victoria has always projected grace and dignity. Even though she is not my blood aunt, she insists on me calling her Aunt Victoria. My cousin, Sheila, is married to her nephew Allen, and they have a daughter named Catherine. Victoria adores her, and I can see that adoration when those two are out and about in Boston. As for me, I sometimes miss my life in Sierra National Park. The wide open spaces, the mountains, the swimming, and the clear blue sky. That was my life for most of my growing up years. My full name is Lorraine Simone Cassidy Harper. Cassidy is my birth name, Harper is an adopted name. My mom, who wasn't even married to my dad, died when I was born. So, from the start, it was just Dad and I. He worked at Sierra National Park as a park ranger. We lived in a house on park property, and it was home to me for so many years. I have always loved animals, stemming from my living in a national park. Maybe that was why I am more sensitive to animal issues, even today. When I was eight years old, Dad helped me to adopt an orphan bear cub. He was my first real pet. I named the baby bear, Bumble. He was quite a huge bear when he was full grown, but he was so tame and so lovable, that even when he was full grown, he was as tame and gentle as a puppy. I loved him dearly, and it was heartbreaking for me to give him up to a petting zoo when I went to college. Even through my dad's death in a mountain climbing accident, Bumble was the one constant for me. After Dad's death, his friend, Tim Harper, who was also a ranger, adopted me outright. He moved into the house Dad and I lived in and he made it a home for me. I grew up with Tim being my adopted Dad. He loved me and I loved him. Dad Tim died of cancer after I graduated college, and that was heartbreaking to me. After Dad died, I studied about who I was and my adopted family the Harpers. Dad Tim was the son of John Harper, who was a real Boston Brahmin, and they were my adopted grandparents. Both Grandmother and Grandfather Harper had passed away. Grandpa's second wife, India was married to him for a time, and I consider her my grandmother. She's a fun lady, always marching to her own drummer, and she always has some interesting stories about her life. I met Aunt June when I first got to Boston. I had a hard time dealing with living in Boston, having been used to living in a national park for a long time. But Aunt June helped me out and it was a growing process. She helped me find a place of my own (I stayed with her for a while) and I used my money (what I saved from the wills of Dad and Dad Tim) and opened up a natural foods store in Cambridge. I then opened a new store in the Charles Street area of Beacon Hill. The apartment Aunt June and I found was near Harvard Square, which was where I opened my store. I still love animals and have three cats that I adore. I still do mountain climbing. I do that in Vermont and New Hampshire which I really enjoy. I've also gotten used to living around my large and very new family. I get along well with Dylan, Sheila, Anyssa, and the others. Dylan is the most sweet-natured people in the family. He and his husband, Adam have a lovely townhouse in Louisburg Square and they are very well-known and well loved. They recently adopted a couple of children, Derek and Ashley, from what I have heard. They are adorable, and Dyl and Adam are very proud of them. Sheila and her husband have a daughter named Catherine and they also live with Dylan and Adam. Anyssa and her family, live over on Louisburg Square as well. They moved to Beacon Hill after their quads were born. Currently, I am teaching their oldest child, their son, Sam, the ins and outs of camping and outdoors life. He often takes his baby doll, Lollie, with him. It is odd to me that I see Sammy playing with a doll. I never had one when I was growing up, because I had never wanted one. It sometimes astonishes me that boys can play with dolls. But then again, I was always doing boy things when I was living in the park, camping, mountain climbing, working with park rangers, et cetera, so I cannot really question it. He does love Lollie, and I can tell it. Derek, Dylan's son, also plays with dolls and it is clear that his dolls were his closest companions, aside from his sister, Ashley. In so many ways, Boston is greatly different from Sierra National Park, but while Sierra is my past, Boston is my here and now and my future. I acclimate, and I acclimate well. One thing I learned from living in a park, and living in Boston is that the two are not that much unalike. One is an urban forest, the other is a natural forest; either or, I love them both. Category:Episodes Category:Episodes from a character's view